The effect of parental depression on the problem behaviour and academic performance of children with asthma.
Jeong-Won Han, Jung Min Kim, Hanna Lee
PMID 32802381WHAT IT FOUND
In families of 9-year-old children with asthma symptoms, maternal depression was directly associated with more child problem behaviour, and child problem behaviour was associated with lower reported academic performance.
Parental depression was linked to marital conflict, and marital conflict to less parent-child interaction.
Key findings
01Higher depression in either parent was associated with more marital conflict in both parents.
02Mothers' depression was directly associated with more internalizing and externalizing problem behaviour in children.
03Children's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviour were associated with lower academic performance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional analysis of existing survey data, so it cannot show that parental depression caused child problem behaviour or lower academic performance. The sample was 236 children with asthma symptoms in a Korean panel study, which may not represent other countries, ages or children with clinically diagnosed asthma. The analysis used questionnaire reports from parents and children, and the child problem behaviour measure was reported by the child. Multivariate normality assumptions were not satisfied, although the authors used a method they reported as acceptable for samples of 120 or more. Only 14 of 18 tested hypotheses were retained, so not every proposed link was supported.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The data were provided by the Panel Study on Korean Children.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating parental depression will improve child behaviour or school performance. This was a cross-sectional survey analysis, so it showed associations at one time point, not a tested treatment effect.